Do lawyers have vacations? Forum

[jrwhitedog]

I wonder do lawyers have vacations if you work for a law firm?Is it varied by the law you practice?

[Pearalegal]

Um, yes. They have vacations.

[jrwhitedog]

Um, yes. They have vacations.

OK.But how long? I've seen the way to calculate billable hours by setting aside 4-5 weeks of vacation by Yale. I also noticed that some lawyers don't even have vacations until they work a few years.So could you give me a more specific answer?

[The Zeppelin]

Um, yes. They have vacations.

OK.But how long? I've seen the way to calculate billable hours by setting aside 4-5 weeks of vacation by Yale. I also noticed that some lawyers don't even have vacations until they work a few years.So could you give me a more specific answer?

Maybe you should try asking a lawyer and not law students.

[Pearalegal]

Ask a very broad question, get a very broad answer. I cannot give you answers for every type of firm in every market, thats ridiculous.

I'm at a large, top firm in DC.

At my firm, associates are given 5 weeks of vacation, and generally use at least a week or so for real vacation. Both of the associates I work with in their 2nd year (I don't work with any 1st years), have gone on vacation this year for a week. The older attorneys basically do the same, if not a little longer.

[jrwhitedog]

Ask a very broad question, get a very broad answer. I cannot give you answers for every type of firm in every market, thats ridiculous.

I'm at a large, top firm in DC.

At my firm, associates are given 5 weeks of vacation, and generally use at least a week or so for real vacation. Both of the associates I work with in their 2nd year (I don't work with any 1st years), have gone on vacation this year for a week. The older attorneys basically do the same, if not a little longer.

Thanks a lot.But why do they only use 1 week if given 5 weeks?Is it because of progression pressure or that the firm would give them bonus if they still work?

[ScaredWorkedBored]

Yes, you'll get X weeks of vacation.

Yes, you are expected to meet your billable hours target anyway.

Yes, your vacation plans can and will get canceled (or not dare to make them in the first place) if client needs dictate.

Yes, that means that in practice, most lawyers outside of the government don't take anywhere near their "book" vacation, at least, certainly not in week-two week drop off the face of the Earth vacations.

[Pearalegal]

Ask a very broad question, get a very broad answer. I cannot give you answers for every type of firm in every market, thats ridiculous.

I'm at a large, top firm in DC.

At my firm, associates are given 5 weeks of vacation, and generally use at least a week or so for real vacation. Both of the associates I work with in their 2nd year (I don't work with any 1st years), have gone on vacation this year for a week. The older attorneys basically do the same, if not a little longer.

Thanks a lot.But why do they only use 1 week if given 5 weeks?Is it because of progression pressure or that the firm would give them bonus if they still work?

Probably so they don't have to kill themselves billing/I think its pretty typical when you're starting your career not to take full vacation. Also, that leaves a lot left over for emergencies.

These are all guesses.

[jrwhitedog]

So in fact,you have only 1 week of vacation?I guess teaching the law is better than practicing if I can make 100k a year.

[paratactical]

.

[thompson]

So in fact,you have only 1 week of vacation?I guess teaching the law is better than practicing if I can make 100k a year.

Do you go to YHS? If not, I'm afraid to say your chances of academia are slim to none.

EDIT: that was harsh, sorry.

[Kohinoor]

So in fact,you have only 1 week of vacation?I guess teaching the law is better than practicing if I can make 100k a year.

No.

You *MUST* bill so many hours. You *MUST* be at work, in court, etc, when partners or cases you are working with need you to be present.

If you can meet those two requirements and take 3 weeks vacation, I'm sure some firms would let you. The issue is that it is near impossible to do that.

There was an attorney on a case I worked on last year that had to delay her wedding, the one where she was the bride, for a year and a half a week before the wedding was scheduled. Shit happens.

--ImageRemoved--

No firm outside the V20 is worth that... delaying a wedding can involve huge sunk costs and loss of good will not to mention the message it sends to your significant other.

[Anonymous User]

So in fact,you have only 1 week of vacation?I guess teaching the law is better than practicing if I can make 100k a year.

No.

You *MUST* bill so many hours. You *MUST* be at work, in court, etc, when partners or cases you are working with need you to be present.

If you can meet those two requirements and take 3 weeks vacation, I'm sure some firms would let you. The issue is that it is near impossible to do that.

There was an attorney on a case I worked on last year that had to delay her wedding, the one where she was the bride, for a year and a half a week before the wedding was scheduled. Shit happens.

--ImageRemoved--

No firm outside the V20 is worth that... delaying a wedding can involve huge sunk costs and loss of good will not to mention the message it sends to your significant other.

lol @ 4chan watermark.

Anonymous b/c 4chan.

[Philo38]

So in fact,you have only 1 week of vacation?I guess teaching the law is better than practicing if I can make 100k a year.

Do you go to YHS? If not, I'm afraid to say your chances of academia are slim to none.

EDIT: that was harsh, sorry.

I doubt legal teaching is for you if the sole determining factor is the amount of vacation. I mean, if you want vacation time be a sales person at REI or something. If you want a career that doesn't take that much of a time commitment than you probably shouldn't go to law school . . .

Hell, teach 8th graders history. Than you get tones of vacations.

[redsox]

Hell, teach 8th graders history. Than you get tones of vacations.

I bet if you taught 8th graders history, they'd let you sit in on the 2nd grade spelling lessons.

[Philo38]

Hell, teach 8th graders history. Than you get tones of vacations.

I bet if you taught 8th graders history, they'd let you sit in on the 2nd grade spelling lessons.

Oh good lord. Give me a break, a typo is a typo. It happens.

[jrwhitedog]

So in fact,you have only 1 week of vacation?I guess teaching the law is better than practicing if I can make 100k a year.

Do you go to YHS? If not, I'm afraid to say your chances of academia are slim to none.

EDIT: that was harsh, sorry.

Hey,it's ok. Actually I guess I am a little naive.I just got my bachelor degree and I'm currently in a M.Eng program.

[jrwhitedog]

So in fact,you have only 1 week of vacation?I guess teaching the law is better than practicing if I can make 100k a year.

Do you go to YHS? If not, I'm afraid to say your chances of academia are slim to none.

EDIT: that was harsh, sorry.

I doubt legal teaching is for you if the sole determining factor is the amount of vacation. I mean, if you want vacation time be a sales person at REI or something. If you want a career that doesn't take that much of a time commitment than you probably shouldn't go to law school . . .

Hell, teach 8th graders history. Than you get tones of vacations.

You're right.I am interested in law,but if I have to almost kill myself to satisfy the billable hours,I'd rather live a meaningful life with less money.And by the way,law school professors make a good fortune,right?

[underachiever]

Law Firms are about work and money, "if you want vacation time go teach third grade at a public school"

Seriously, If you want to make partner I would be surprised if you took off a total of 10 weeks in the 7 or 8 years it takes you to come up for review

[shadowfish]

So in fact,you have only 1 week of vacation?I guess teaching the law is better than practicing if I can make 100k a year.

Do you go to YHS? If not, I'm afraid to say your chances of academia are slim to none.

EDIT: that was harsh, sorry.

I don't think it's harsh...in fact, I was going to agree with you until I saw you wrote YHS instead of YLS. I think I remember seeing that H places into academia as well as Y in bulk numbers, but considering that H has maybe 3x the # of students of Y, it's significantly more difficult. You'd still have to do obscenely well compared with other strong colleagues. I guess you could also be a very good writer who gets published a lot, so long as you at least have pretty strong grades at a pretty good school.

So to op, yes, law profs make a good salary, but don't bank on getting one of those jobs. That said, I don't know anything about using a law degree to get a non-law professor job e.g. history professor or political science professor. Not that I'd recommend doing that, since law school is more expensive than getting a Ph.D, or so I've heard, but if you're realllly interested in law, it could be worthwhile.

[paratactical]

.

[reasonable_man]

Lawyers have vacations. I took one last summer for 5 working days (7days total). However, during that vacation, I check e-mail daily and I re-drafted a motion that another associate did a shitty job on for one of the partners I work for often. But for the better part of the vacation, with the exception of responding to a few urgent e-mails, I was largely left alone.

Generally, the more senior you are, the more freedom you will have with taking vacation. My firm offers 2 weeks a year for starting associates with a bunch of personal days and some sick days too. However, I rarely, if ever, take a day off. Its more common that I might leave early one day if need be, which typically doesn't work against my personal days because frankly, I come in on too many weekends for anyone to watch me all that closely (your freedom is also directly related to how good of a biller you are, which is something I'm quite good at for a JR associate).

Typically, I try to plan my vacations out at least 6 months in advance. Then I try my best to work my schedule around that and i 'request' not 'report' when I would like to take vacation and await approval (which usually comes quickly after). I do not take a full 2 weeks, I limit it to 5 days plus the weekend in that time (so 7 days really). I might consider taking a few sporadic days here and there, or maybe a short day or two off, but who knows. You also have to realize that if you're in a department where things are hard to plan (like mine -- litigation), you may be forced to cancel a trip. It can happen.

All of that said, you can take vacation, just not the kind of vacation that a construction worker might be able to take, i.e., I'm out of here, see you in 2 weeks.

[ziggysmarley]

This entire post is ridiculous. Lawyers can take vacations and do take vacations. If a lawyer reschedules her wedding (or even a big vacation), then that reflects poorly on the individuals involved: either the lawyer who can't schedule appropriately re: taking a vacation during a non-super busy time in their caseload, plan ahead and find another lawyer to cover, etc or the firm/department head/partner being an asshole. Biglaw rarely involves the type of "chain yourself to your desk for 24 hours a day, day-in, day-out" type mentality that naive law students perpetuate on these boards.

And I think the OP is a flame.

[jrwhitedog]

This entire post is ridiculous. Lawyers can take vacations and do take vacations. If a lawyer reschedules her wedding (or even a big vacation), then that reflects poorly on the individuals involved: either the lawyer who can't schedule appropriately re: taking a vacation during a non-super busy time in their caseload, plan ahead and find another lawyer to cover, etc or the firm/department head/partner being an asshole. Biglaw rarely involves the type of "chain yourself to your desk for 24 hours a day, day-in, day-out" type mentality that naive law students perpetuate on these boards.

And I think the OP is a flame.

[Kant]

This entire post is ridiculous. Lawyers can take vacations and do take vacations. If a lawyer reschedules her wedding (or even a big vacation), then that reflects poorly on the individuals involved: either the lawyer who can't schedule appropriately re: taking a vacation during a non-super busy time in their caseload, plan ahead and find another lawyer to cover, etc or the firm/department head/partner being an asshole. Biglaw rarely involves the type of "chain yourself to your desk for 24 hours a day, day-in, day-out" type mentality that naive law students perpetuate on these boards.

And I think the OP is a flame.

This guy is a friggin badass.